After reviewing the 2008 SALT visit report for Scituate Middle School, two of the recommendations suggested by the SALT team that seem the most relevant in the classroom I am teaching in are:
1. Focus more on teaching writing conventions.
2. Find more time for reading instruction, specifically in the area of analysis and interpretation.
In almost every investigation the students carry out in this seventh grade science classroom, students are required to do a "write up". Students are expected to use full sentences and paragraphs when answering write up questions and also to give proper titles their write ups. All of the work students turn in for homework is also required in sentence form, this helps students become more familiar and comfortable with writing complete sentences regularly.
Students work on the suggestion of reading instruction mainly when working on investigations. The majority of the investigations we do require reading or analyzing some sort of text, graphs, or data. Students have the opportunity to hear a brief introduction read of each topic when a new lab is introduced. Reading this with the students is beneficial because you are modeling how you want them to read the material, and also you can pause for reflection when you think students would benefit from additional explanation.
1. Focus more on teaching writing conventions.
2. Find more time for reading instruction, specifically in the area of analysis and interpretation.
In almost every investigation the students carry out in this seventh grade science classroom, students are required to do a "write up". Students are expected to use full sentences and paragraphs when answering write up questions and also to give proper titles their write ups. All of the work students turn in for homework is also required in sentence form, this helps students become more familiar and comfortable with writing complete sentences regularly.
Students work on the suggestion of reading instruction mainly when working on investigations. The majority of the investigations we do require reading or analyzing some sort of text, graphs, or data. Students have the opportunity to hear a brief introduction read of each topic when a new lab is introduced. Reading this with the students is beneficial because you are modeling how you want them to read the material, and also you can pause for reflection when you think students would benefit from additional explanation.